By tradition, it is closely connected with St. Maelrubha (c.642-722), the apostle to Skye, who is said variously to have sailed over from Applecross (on a large flat stone) and to have occupied the small island of Pabay opposite the beach.

Also in the burial ground are several Commonwealth War Graves, the majority of these being Royal Navy casualties from the warship HMS Curacoa which sank in 1942 following a collision with the ocean liner Queen Mary, which it was escorting at the time.

There are still to be seen the sacred spring that started when the saint tore a small tree from the ground and a rocky crag above the river, which he is said to have used as a pulpit (Creag an leabhair, "the rock of the book").

The saint's bell, which is supposed to have hung from a tree and to have pealed of its own accord in order to summon the faithful, is no longer in evidence.

One of the lintels of the linking channel bore a lozenge 75 millimetres (3 inches) long, and a cross-marked stone was found near the well-house.